God's Most Fascinating Creature

Who needs reality TV? Just look around you.

“It’s just after dawn at the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach Delaware, where the ambition for the morning is to resurrect an Egyptian ale whose recipe dates back several hundred centuries.”

This is the beginning of an article in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine. To accomplish this goal, they consult with Patrick McGovern, a 66 year-old archaeologist and adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

"'Dr. Pat,' as he’s known at Dogfish Head, is the word’s foremost expert on ancient fermented beverages…” Now that’s an unusual honorific. While other boys dreamed of being firemen and garbage collectors, was Dr. McGovern entertaining fantasies about historic beers? But no matter. What really struck me here is the tremendous variety of people in the world and the interests that excite them.

I love going to aquariums. I’m always amazed by the colors, sizes and shapes of the different fish. It’s awe-inspiring to see what a complex and beautiful underwater world the Almighty has created. I’m like the proverbial kid in the candy shop running from tank to tank and calling out to my kids (who feign interest and roll their eyes) and my husband (who’s more polite) to look at this one…and this one…and that one over there.

And that’s nothing compared to people. People are the most fascinating creatures of all. My husband always enjoys waiting for our kids at the airport because of all the people-watching you can do (talk about finding the silver lining in all that schlepping!). As we wait for our children to descend the escalator at LAX, we can stand and stare at everyone else, without any sense of self-consciousness whatsoever. After all, we’re just watching for our family. The variety of shapes, sizes and facial expressions among human beings far surpasses that of the aforementioned fish (particularly the facial expressions!).

There is really nothing more awesome than people. And that’s just their physical appearance.

When you begin to delve into their personalities, their goals, their interests, their psyches (well, I’m not sure we want to go there!), the diversity is even more dramatic. Everyone has a story to tell, an interesting narrative if we just give them the time and attention. And each individual has unique areas of interest and passion.

At the aquariums there are people who have devoted their lives to studying fish, sharks, whales…you name it. At the zoo, there are those whose interest is the gorillas, the polar bears, the lions, the giraffes…And what about the huge variety of bugs? There are reputedly 400,000 species of beetles alone. Not beautiful but certainly compelling. How about all the plants and flowers? The solar system? Watching the lift-off of the final Shuttle mission, I thought about everyone at NASA – the engineers, astronauts, scientists…And of course there are also the less glamorous occupations. I went online to see what has been feature on the show “Dirty Jobs”. The most dramatic listed was the “Owl Vomit Collector”. Don’t ask. I know there are special dentists for large animals like moose. There are charcoal makers, sewage plant workers and coal miners. The list, as they say, is truly endless.

We have a constant commandment to know there is a God. Maimonides suggests that just looking around at the both the order and awesomeness of the natural world should be enough to provoke that recognition. And it is. But nothing illustrates the Almighty’s hand more than His ultimate creation – us.

So take a break. Go sit in a coffee shop and watch the crowds. You don’t need an isolated mountaintop to experience awe. Try to meet as many people as you can from as many different walks of life as possible. Most of us limit ourselves to a narrow world of like-minded people (who, it must be noted, are also fascinating!). Talk to them, ask them questions, listen to their bios. We were once seated at a Bar Mitzvah next to someone who works with his dog to rescue mountain climbers who get trapped or stuck in the Canadian Rockies. Amazing. I guess that’s part of the appeal of Reality TV. But who needs television when, at almost every moment, we have the opportunity to observe live or even speak directly to the Almighty’s most fascinating creature of all?

About the Author

Emuna Braverman has a law degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters in in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. She lives with her husband and nine children in Los Angeles where they both work for Aish HaTorah. When she isn''t writing for the Internet or taking care of her family, Emuna teaches classes on Judaism, organizes gourmet kosher cooking groups and hosts many Shabbos guests. She is the cofounder of www.gourmetkoshercooking.com.

Visitor Comments: 2

(2)
Elisheva,
July 20, 2011 9:36 PM

Amazing Life

I have not owned a television since 1972....as you say, Life is more amazing and interesting than anything. I have even referred to the living room sliding glass doors as the "big screen TV" where the program is constantly changing and the beautiful birds, insects and other wildlife is abundant. (It helps to live in Florida!)

(1)
Ruth Housman,
July 19, 2011 3:41 PM

In Schools

I was recently in Dublin, at a Bar, where a man was playing guitar more or less continuously on stage, according to the rules, to break the Guinness Book of Records. I thought then of a very good ad for ale, and it is, What ale's YOU? A play on the words ails, and ale. This could, if done properly, make a really catching ad for beer.
As to fish, I do see there is the word ISH in Fish and that is for man in Hebrew. There is a book by Neil Shubin called Your Inner Fish, a book that is about how we and they, are similar.
And surely we are, as you state. Those bright colors, that pouting face, those lips. They do remind me of fancy women.
Yes, we have perhaps more expressions, but we also run in schools, and I say, we should attend more to the amazement of that panoply of life, in our oceans, and on this terra firma, and sanctify all life, not just this notion we are above them, the pinnacle of Creation.
I feel that is actually not quite right. Are we the most fascinating creature of all? Maybe. Maybe not. If you study anything at all that lives and breathes, you might conclude that "they" are totally astounding, and that what we think we know, pales in comparison with what we learn, about ALL Creation. Do not magnify US too much. It has lead to much environmental degradation, the loss of birds, of fish, of coral, and what we need, that is deeply, I will say, actually inseparable from us.

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